Monsters
vs. Aliens
Reese Witherspoon provides the voice of Susan
– a loving
bride-to-be in Modesto, CA who gets lucky when a huge meteor falls on
her before she walks into the chapel. This accident leaves her with
superhuman strength, and causes her to grow to an enormous height (and
prompts general managers from the WNBA to start calling her cell
phone). Quickly captured by a mysterious arm of the government, Susan
is taken to a top secret military facility where she learns various
monsters have been captured and held for over 50 years. Now, these
miscreants and societal outcastes must unite to save the planet from an
alien invasion led by Gallaxhar (Rainn Wilson), who wants the material
from that meteor.
Can the
monsters save the day?
Will Susan ever lead a normal life again?
Monsters vs. Aliens falls into
that category of movies that are funny and decent enough, but
it’s nothing that will rock your world (If I start sounding
like Brett Michaels in my reviews, is that a sign of the apocalypse?
Should someone stage an intervention? That Rock of Love Bus
show is
addictive.). It’s hard to get excited about any aspect of the
film as the story is only average, the three acts are put together in a
very klunky way as if they were never intended to be together in the
first place (haven’t we all had relationships like that?),
and not all of the actors are trying very hard to create unique
characters.
Instead of flowing from one moment to the next, directors Rob Letterman
and Conrad Vernon stumble from scene to scene kind of like Lindsay
Lohan stumbles out of Roosevelt Hotel on a Friday night, but, like
Lindsay, they eventually find their way home (or to Jack
Nicholson’s house). Sure, the final act feels tacked on
because they sped through the first two too quickly, but the writing
team makes a valiant effort at trying to convey a message about inner
strength, being true to yourself, and making good friends.
Additionally, this five person writing team creates fun characters
(even if the dialogue is nothing amazing), and the cast of talent
providing the voices makes some of those characters and their special
moments silly enough to keep everyone interested. You will love
listening to Hugh Laurie and Keifer Sutherland create wild, goofy
characters while some other actors (who shall remain nameless) just do
the voice we know them for.
I saw Monsters vs. Aliens in 2-D, so I
can’t say much
about the 3-D visual effects, but I am certain that a bit more effort
put into the script and story would have made this a more stunning
movie.
Monsters vs. Aliens is rated PG for
sci-fi action, some crude humor and mild language.
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